Well, to be honest, in some classes I have not analyzed most of the opinions and have not read a whole number of them, but I had my method of study and I did pretty good. Instead, I worked in my 1L and took care of my business and networked. In fact, I did poorly in those classes where I tried to do absolutelly everyting what professor required - read and briefed all cases, read every casebook assignment. It just did not prove useful. In fact, on exam I realized that 90% of what I read was pretty much uselles waste of time, because many of my fellow students, including top students, do not even remember those cases, just may be have general idea of what tthey are about. There are casenotes for that. There are study aids for rules. I was amazed when I saw a top student hiding in the corner of the library with study aid. When I said hi and asked what she was reading, she looked kind of guilty and said "It is really good, you know...". She has been reading that all along with cases, but she can read very fast. Next year I am totally going to rely on my own study methods and techniques.

I guess that I never thought of it that way. I just noticed a lot more schools waiving their application fees and figured that was due to a lack of regular applicants.

Thats because they want top quality students to apply with such small enticement. I mean, they figure, since student has all paperwork ready anyway, let him apply here as well. Then they will charge over the top for tuition They want a larger pool to select from, in order to get more suitable students. Thats what I think they do.